Milk Prices Threaten to Skyrocket

Right now it's 2.50 for a gallon of milk..imagine paying five bucks?That could soon be in our future if federal lawmakers don't act quickly.

Numerous products, like corn and beef, are already higher priced after a major drought this summer, but now milk is on the list because the federal law which regulates milk prices has met it's expiration date.

Lona Chesley grew up on a dairy farm. "Are we making less cows?" she remarks.She says she's shocked that milk prices may double because the U.S. Farm Bill has not passed. "I've got a growing teen who drinks a gallon a day. One-hundred and fifty dollars a month for milk. That's ridiculous."

Every 5 to seven years the U.S.Farm Bill is renewed, guaranteeing the price farmers get paid for their milk, but the bill reached it's expiration date on October 1st. If it isn't renewed by years end- price supports will be based on much older regulations --from the 1949 Agriculture Act.

Which would mean that while currently 100 lbs of milk ships for $19 dollars. If the bill doesn't pass it could mean we go back to old standards meaning 100 lbs of milk would ship for $38 dollars.

Even local businesses, from coffee shops - which rely heavily on dairy- to cupcake stores, which merely use it in their baking, say it could spoil their bottom line."Everything hurts," Jim Krebs who works at the Cupcake Company. "Especially when you've got a small business like this. Your bottom line, every penny counts." Business owners, and consumers, worried. "When your starting to pay more for milk than to put gas in your car that's a concern," says Chesley.

Worried that milk may become the newest price increase in an already struggling economy.

Now this is still based on speculation. It depends on how willing the U.S. House is to pass the 2012 version of the bill by the end of this year